The Christian life - Christi..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. So brothers and sisters, we continue in our study that we have begun many, many, many weeks ago now. I've lost count.

I think maybe we've been, we're 15 or 16 weeks in. But it's only recently, maybe four weeks ago, that we began our study. We've gone from the individual Christian life into the family of how the Christian family should function. What are the roles and the responsibilities of every member of the Christian family? And so if you remember over the last few weeks, I spoke to what is a family under God?

How does the Bible describe a family? You would remember the original essence of a family is when a man leaves his father or mother's home and the woman does the same and they cleave one with the other. in a covenant relationship as a marriage. The two become one flesh under God and that marriage before the Lord is the constitution of a family. The Lord may then bless that family with children, the offspring from their own loins or they can adopt children.

Those children are then incorporated into the family. They're incorporated into the family and every member of the family has a role, a responsibility. And we've been speaking about the authoritative structure, the structure of authority that God has mandated in his word for this family. That means every member, and we spoke about the husband and the wife, every member has a role and a responsibility within the context of the family. This week, by God's grace, the topic will be children, children in the context of a Christian family.

So just like mom and just like dad who have their roles and responsibilities before God, and we attain those through the word of God, the children also have a role in the context of the family. Now, as I said, we've addressed fathers or actually we've addressed husbands and wives in previous weeks, not so much fathers and mothers. Really, we've only looked at the relationships between husbands and wives in the context of a marriage. Now, although some of what comes out from the father and the mother in the context of the family will come out out of this Bible study. The emphasis will be more so on children and by God's grace in coming weeks we'll address the fathers and mothers when we do address the family as a whole.

Now I said essentially we haven't really been exhaustive in our studies. I mean, that's quite obvious because we're only committing one Bible study per topic. And so that means, by God's grace, we've been picking some verses, some truths from the Bible and trying to bring those to lay bare on our soul what God says in relation to the different individuals in the family that unite the family. And that's the intention of the Lord, that the family will be united. And so we've concentrated our studies on the book of Ephesians and the parallel passage, Ephesians 5 that is, and now we're going to get into chapter 6, the first verses in chapter 6, and also the parallel passage in the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter Now, who can remember essentially what the Bible speaks about?

The main, you would say, the main element of the relationship between a husband and a wife. When we're talking about the husband, what is the emphasis in the book of Ephesians, chapter 5, that the husband ought to be towards his wife? What is it? It is one of So what's the word I'm looking for? What's the main disposition of the husband's heart towards the wife that's spoken of in Ephesians chapter 5?

It ought to be one of self-sacrificing love. So put those two together exactly that. The husband ought to be self-sacrificing in the context of that marriage. And the example given is how Christ was to the church. And of course, then we have the wife in the context of a marriage.

And if you remember, the apostle Paul speaks to the wife in Ephesians chapter five, and in her role in submitting to her husband, because this is God's role and the way God has ordained things in creation. Everything is to be done. Everything is to be done in reverence to Jesus Christ. If you remember, that is the goal, that the individual's eyes and their hearts are focused upon the Lord, that their relationship with Christ ought to be paramount. And the very essence of everything they do is the relationship they have with Jesus Christ.

Because as I said a few studies ago, if we have neglected our relationship with the Lord, which is at the very center and primary, it's the primary essence of our Christian life. And with our relationships with everyone else, everything falls apart. If we've neglected our spiritual life with the Lord, everything else falls apart. So here you have the context of a family, and I believe the Lord's intention is that he unites families, these normal individuals from all walks of life, The Lord unites them in his grace and in his love. That is the intention.

That's the work of God, to unite. We see that the opposite is taking place in the world, scattering and division, but Christ's intention is essentially to unite all things to him in Christ. And if you remember the theme of these studies that we said many months ago when we began the study is actually found in the book of Ephesians and it speaks about the collective, the church being united in Christ, being growing in maturity and being united in Jesus Christ, that Christ gives his church all that she requires, she lacks for nothing. And the goal is this, that we attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So as it is God's intention, as it is Christ's intention to unite the church, people from all walks of life united in this Jesus Christ, one in spirit, his intention is to unite also the unique families that are in the church.

So the question we can ask ourselves is this, how much does our families, our families, our husbands, wives, and our children, how much do they look like the church of Jesus Christ? Now, before I address children, let me say this. Let me just get this timer on because without it, I'll probably go over, so I don't want to do that tonight. There you go. I've tried to make it clear, brothers and sisters, in the previous studies that the family structure that we see so clearly portrayed in scripture is under full-scale assault by our society and by the world.

Do we agree? Can we see that much? Okay. It doesn't take much observation to recognize that the family unit, the unit that we read about and that is so clear in the word of God and the roles and the responsibilities and the authority structure within the household is under attack. But it's no surprise to us because this is one of the oldest attacks or the strategy of the devil, because really what is under attack is not simply just the family, but it is the Word of God, the proclamation of God that has given us instruction as to how we conduct ourselves.

as families. How we as husbands are to conduct ourselves in the context of the family and the marriage. How the wives are to conduct themselves, the children. What is your responsibility? What is your role in this institution called a family?

The word of God is under full scale assault because the enemy is using the same strategy he's used for thousands of years. If you remember back in the garden, he came to Eve and he said, did God say? Did God say the day that you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, die, you shall die. Surely you won't die. There's an attack at what God has spoken, God is clear in what he has said, and yet the enemy.

will straight out attack and things are no different today. It is the word of God that is under attack, beloved. What God has united, what God has shown in his goodness and in his grace, ultimately for his glory, but always, always for the very best of humanity is being attacked and being divided and scattered by the enemy. We see the carnage everywhere. His ploy is to divide and to conquer.

How does the enemy do this? I said it before, by undermining the word of God and by attacking the family directly. How does he attack the family? He confuses the roles within the context of the family. He confuses the responsibilities under God within the context of the family.

And how does he do that? Well, he appeals to the flesh. This is what we see. The enemy is always appealing to the flesh, and that's why it is so, so dangerous, because the flesh is weak. And it's dangerous because every single one of us struggle with the flesh.

That the desire, the sinful desire or the remnants of the sinful desire that is still within us, that is what is appealing to and every one of us has a weak spot in the flesh. Jesus said, the spirit is willing, but the flesh, flesh is weak. So the full scale assault is that the family, it's not what we, It is what we see in society and we see it everywhere. The media is so clearly portraying these things. Television, the movies, is there a single movie that you can watch these days where you don't see a total breakdown of what the family ought to be?

The education departments, our schooling system, beloved brothers and sisters, it is all messed up. And it's all designed to assault the word of God and break apart the family. Husbands are portrayed as weak. spineless, poor leaders, unconcerned with family, addicted to drink and TV. This is the stereotype we see and all they're worried about is what they're going to do on the weekends.

Wives are bombarded in every direction with the feminist movements to free them somehow. That's the narrative that housewives need to be freed from their slavery. That's the message we get in our society. Submitting to your husband, That's archaic. Submitting to your husband?

Who does that? That's beneath you is what our society says. You're in bondage, they would say to their housewife, and you need to be set free. Look to us to save you. In an unrelated topic that I was listening to last week, not related to this.

There was a conservative commentator that said something and I thought it was actually very good. Only in a few words, he really did summarize, I think, the feminist, the modern day feminist movement. And this is what he said, I'm gonna be paraphrasing, but this is what he said. He says, it falsely brainwashes women to believe that they are free, it is, it brainwashes women to believe that they are free when serving their employer but enslaved when serving their husbands and their children. Think about those words.

In only a few words, I think he's hit the nail on the proverbial head. This is what they do. They paint this picture of freedom, but who said that they're in bondage? Who said that the Word of God places women in bondage? The Word of God is for the very best of the wives, our women, our sisters, the very best for the husband, the very best for children.

And we, as I said last week, we need to have a presupposition in our hearts and in our minds, and that is, if we believe the Bible is the Word of God, If we believe God has spoken and we believe God has only spoken that which is for our good, that we stand on the word and we oppose the world. There's no two ways about it. Family is under attack. And beloved, as I said earlier, if every member of the family is under attack, then our children are not spared. Our children have become targets in vicious attacks.

As parents, we have to be vigilant. Our eyes need to remain open. We need to see what is going on. Husbands, you're the heads of your families. We need to see what is going on, what comes into our families, what comes into our homes.

We need to be vigilant. We need to be vigilant because they are being taught to rebel. Our society is teaching our young ones, our children, to rebel against authority, to rebel against their mothers and against their fathers. That's what they're taught. The rebellion can be very clear and blatant in some cases, like Sally, is that what your mum said?

Your mum said that you can't be a boy, Sally? That you woke up this morning feeling that you're a boy? Is that what she said? Oh no, that's wrong. Your parents aren't loving you, Sally.

You need to tell your teacher and then teacher will tell the government and they will take it. Little Johnny, is that what your dad said? He doesn't want you to play with little girl toys and he doesn't want you to identify as a little girl? Is that what your dad said? Your dad said that you're born a boy and nothing can change that because God's made you that way?

Oh no, Little Johnny, that's not true. need to tell your teacher. She needs to tell the authorities and we will make things straight. Beloved, you see what's going on. It's sometimes very blatantly obvious.

What we're seeing is the Bible speaks about the supreme authority being God himself and under God you have the parents. You have the parents, the fathers, the head of the home, and the mothers, also an authority in the home. But what we're seeing is that structure being broken, not that the government is taking the place of the parents, but the place of God. They have the final say. And this is what's happening in our society.

This is what we're seeing all the while. They're treating these young ones and they're saying, you shouldn't be united as a family. you should be torn apart and be treated as individuals. See, it's about dividing and conquering. It could be more subtle than that.

It could be through the media. It could be through stereotypes of what we're seeing or our children are seeing on the TV. And that's portraying things like your father or your mother who's old-fashioned, portraying, maybe putting and instilling in the heart of the kids that maybe they're a little bit smarter than their father or their mother. If you have a question, don't ask your parents. I mean, how many times have you asked your parents and they didn't know the answer?

Just go to Google. You can trust Google. Google has all the right answers. It's divisive, beloved, and it's taking away. what God has put in place for the very good of society.

And we must keep our eyes open. And beloved, the best way, the absolute best way we can keep our eyes open or the root of all that is for us to become very familiar with what God has said in his word. What God has said in his word. And when we do, beloved, we will see so clearly how antithetical the word of God is to everything that this world now stands for. So passages like Ephesians chapter five and six are an absolutely great place to start.

So let's go there. Let's go to Ephesians chapter six. We'll read from verse one through four. My intention was to actually go through the whole lot, but I think we'll only go through the first verse and I'll pick out some bits from the rest, but we just don't have time to go through the whole four verses. Ephesians chapter 6, from verse 1.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. What is being said here in any of those few words? Actually, let's read the whole four verses and we'll go ahead. Let's read the whole four verses. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right, so we can get them context.

Honor your father and mother, this is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land, your translations may say earth, on the earth. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Amen. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Beloved, what is being said here, what is being commanded by our Lord is unmistakable.

You don't need me to explain it. It is actually self-explanatory. The words are so clear, are they not? Children, obey your parents. But let's unpack it just a little.

There are different words in the Bible that speak to children, the one used here is technon, and although it's actually difficult to pinpoint the exact meaning, but it's the words used around about a hundred times in the New Testament, and if we look at the context of how it's being used, this word technon is used for children who are probably as young as, you know, as young as the point where they're able to understand where they're able to understand words and they're able to speak words. So there's a comprehension going on. And as old as really what applies in these passages, at least in the first section, is to the point where they're, you know, they leave the home and they become united with a wife if it's a boy or a husband, if it's a girl. And then they're under a different headship at that point in time. That's what it speaks to.

So children obey your parents. in the Lord, for this is right. So it's true that that word compromises the children from all ages or many ages. But what I want us to really see this evening and what I don't want us to pass by is who is actually being addressed in these words. Who's the apostle addressing in verse one?

Children. and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostle writes in the vocative voice, that's to say he's speaking or he's announcing directly to a particular people group, children. Now the fact he speaks in the evocative shouldn't surprise us because we've already seen that already in chapter 5. Now we've been working our way through the latter part of chapter 5 and now in chapter 6 because I've decided to work our way through there as we concentrate on the family. But we've seen already the apostle speaking in the evocative voice in verse 22 when he addresses wives.

It's as though the apostle's looking to the wives and says, wives now I want to address you in particular. And then in verse 25, he also uses the Hockney voice and he addresses a particular people group in verse 25. And now it's the husbands. So here he's using the same voice and it shouldn't surprise us, but beloved, let me make this incredible point just in case, just in case in our haste or in our familiarity with the text, that this point escapes us and I really don't want it to. You see, a few weeks ago, when we read the paragraphs in the epistles, if you remember, I said it's never, ever, ever healthy to take a section or a paragraph or a few verses in an epistle and pull them out and use them as proof texts.

You remember that? I said this is an epistle of six chapters, and because we're starting in the latter part of chapter 5 and we're entering into chapter 6, we need to remember that when the epistle was read in the original context, it was read from chapter 1, verse 1, all the way to chapter 6, all the way to the final verse. So in other words, the people who were there had already been apprised to the truths that have come before, the truths that are spoken here, all the instruction that is given in the structure of authority, in particular in the household, which is husbands, wives, children, parents, and then later on it's going to be the slaves and masters. Before any instruction is given, the Apostle Paul is assuming that the truths that have been, the instruction and the truths that were spoken of and read early in the first four chapters have been apprehended by everyone and understood so that they become the foundation of what is being said in chapter five and in chapter six. We can't apply these words unless we have a foundation that comes earlier.

And the foundation that comes earlier is instrumental to understanding the family, to understand the authority structure, the apostle Paul is speaking to, because without a foundation, the house will not stand, right? It'll collapse. Now we agreed on that, right? Because that was something I said last week or the week before, I don't remember. I hope we agree on that.

But beyond the text itself, beloved, beyond the historical settings, beyond the grammatical setting or the geographical settings, I want us to take time to consider who the whole audience was of the whole epistle. In the original context, who were the people listening to this epistle? by the inspired hands of the Apostle Paul, who were the audience, the original audience in their totality. Because sometimes, sometimes we can have an image in our mind, as we think about what was going on in the first century, we've read some historical books and so forth, and we may have come up with an idea that it was a male dominated culture, and you would be right in saying so. It would be right.

But sometimes we think that maybe when these things were going on, when the reading of the word was going on for the worship, that maybe it comprised mainly of males, maybe a few wives here and there. But that's not what we have here. When these people gathered in the synagogues and in the churches, beloved, they gathered together as a church in its totality. Like, it's true, as I said earlier, that he was a male-dominated culture, but the word of God in the church of Christ transcends all culture, all of it. So the elements of worship, as we read them, and as we read the epistle, beloved, It is evidenced for us in these few words and what has come earlier that who were there listening to this epistle being read was complete families.

That means mums and dads and children of all ages. That's who gathered. They're the people who gathered corporately and did not forsake the gathering of the assembly. They're the people who sat under the preaching of the word, the teaching of the word, no doubt, the reading and no doubt, the explanation of the expounding of the epistles that we have before us. Beloved, worship.

Even in the first generation and beyond, I know, worship was a time for unity, not division. The families weren't splitting apart, as though the men would go and listen, and then come back and tell the... No, they were all coming, and the kids. The kids were included. It wasn't an adult-only occasion.

It wasn't as though that the apostles only treating and explaining and speaking to adults for the first five chapters. And all of a sudden the apostle Paul says, bring your kids in, bring them from outside from the car park or from kicking the cans outside and now bring them. I'll give you a few moments. None of that existed. He's presuming, he's assuming that if They've come, the church has come, they've come in obedience to Christ and they've brought their children with them.

Moms and dads are there. Single people are there. Little kids are there, older kids are there. The whole family is there. Beloved, that's a beautiful, profound truth of the public worship.

The gathering of the local assembly is an event for both the oldest and the youngest. The kids were not a distraction. The kids were not a hindrance, as was the case in most of society in this day. That wasn't the case in the church of Jesus Christ, and it should never have been the case throughout history, ever. In the church, the children are just as welcome and just as much a part as the adults were.

They belong to the church and they need, beloved, they need to hear the word of God just as much as mommy and daddy. And the word of God is just as relevant to them. They may have been pushed away by the culture, but here the apostle assumes that they're going to be there and reminds me of that beautiful passage in Mark chapter 10, you might remember it. When the kids were being brought to Christ, in numbers to be blessed, and then the apostles rebuke. They rebuke the parents and say, no, no, do you remember the response of Jesus?

The Bible tells us that he was indignant, indignant. That word's only used about seven times in the New Testament. Let me tell you where else it's used. It's used of the officials in the synagogue when they saw that Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Now, we've only gone through, not that long ago, a healing on the Sabbath, and you know how angry and how indignant the officials of Jews were when Jesus healed on the Sabbath.

It was used of them. Jesus became indignant. It's a righteous anger, of course. That's it. No, he says to the disciples, don't push the kids away.

Let them come for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Let them come. And I do believe from the bottom of my heart, it wasn't simply to bring him and sit him on the lap, give him a kiss and a pat on the back, but I believe he spoke to them and I believe they listened. They need to be with Christ. They need to be where Jesus is.

They need to be where his word is being preached and read and expounded. They need to be with the body. They need to be where worship is had. They need to be in the church. They need to be there with the congregation, beloved.

So I'm so glad that our children do meet, our children do come in and worship with us on the Lord's day when we congregate as a church. And beloved brothers and sisters, parents, Parents, I know it's difficult. I know it can be a challenge at times. I know sometimes the kids can be pretty rowdy and hard to control. Our kids are older, but they were younger and they were difficult.

It's no secret to it. But beloved, let me tell you or let me encourage you at least. It may be that you have to discipline your kids when they misbehave in that context. I understand that for sure, because that is a biblical principle, and we'll get to that a little bit later. However, can I encourage you, do not ever be tempted to remove your children from the congregation when it gathers.

Do not be tempted to remove them from there, neither physically nor mentally. because the kids can be there and understand that sometimes there needs to be a mental engagement on things because it's difficult for them to remain constant. But as much as you, this is a matter of Christian liberty, parents, as much as you can, you know your children as much as you can, see if you can extend their concentration or their ability to actually sit there and listen to what is being said, when the word is being preached, may that be the desire of your heart, that your children gather and your children are there in the midst of God's people when they gather and when they sit under the preaching of the word, when they sit under, when they declare from their hearts, worshiping song, when there's prayer given up to God, that they would see their mom and dad and not only mom and dad, but those that their mom and dad, poor brothers and sisters all together, worshipping this King Jesus, that from the very young age, they would see that this Jesus is worshipped and is to be loved and is to be cherished, and all of life makes no sense apart from Him, that there's a consistency with what we see in the church and what there is in our households. May that be true. Beloved, we need to know that our kids will glean far more than we know, that we're there.

This book of Ephesians has high theology, deep, deep theology. I'm sure you're aware. This is an incredible book. If we were gonna do a series, we can go a whole year on this one book, an incredible book. And the kids, the kids were there.

They were listening. How much did they glean? Oh, I don't know. I really don't know. But even if they got that much, and another little bit tomorrow, and a little bit next week, Beloved, this is the Word of God, and we must believe that something supernatural happens when the people of God come together and worship in the name of Jesus in faith.

We're all here today. We will walk out just as we came in, if it isn't for the Spirit of God who presses the truths of God into our soul and changes us. Otherwise, everything that is being said, even if the truth is consistent 100% with the Word of God, it remains in the mind and it doesn't change us. It requires the spirit of God to change our inner being. We come in faith, we apprehend in faith.

That is our attitude, but then we trust the Lord to do his work. How has the evangelical church, for the most part, diminished that truth? They painted a picture that our children or to our children, the event that is on a Sunday morning or a Sunday evening, whenever the church gathers, maybe both, that when they come together for us, it's in the afternoon. But this hour and a half, two hours, two and a half hours, whatever it is, this is an exclusive adult thing. you become a hindrance and because of that you become a hindrance and a little bit rowdy.

So what we'll do is we'll organise to withdraw you from the congregation. We'll put you out, we'll entertain you for a couple of hours until your adults do their thing. Until the adults all do their own thing. Because you might get bored. Plus we need to leave this time and this sacred moment for the real participants and you're not really part You're not really part of this.

That's a lie. That's a big lie. And the Bible, the apostle, and the Lord Jesus Christ who has inspired these words, he knows nothing of that language. Here you have the apostle Paul saying, children, children. I expect the children to be there with their parents.

Children. Now, there's a specific word for you. Children. You've been sitting there quietly. Maybe not so quietly.

But you've been sitting with your parents. That doesn't matter. With other Christians and you're all listening to the same word together so that the spirit of God is uniting the hearts in unity because you're not listening a little bit over here and you're listening together and the goal of the church is the unity of the church. We said And the children, here they are, they're listening. And the apostles probably think, I'm glad that you're there.

And you know why he'd be glad that he's there? You know why we're glad to see your kids among us? Because the church, because the word of God is just as much needed to their soul as it is for their moms and dads. Beloved, how could this not be the priority of our hearts to see that our kids worship and sit under the preaching of the word as often as we come under preaching and as often as we sit under the preaching of the word. You know, we've been taught on many occasions, and I know most of us, all of us, have a fairly balanced view of what salvation is or the nature of salvation.

So we know We know that we're born in sin. Our children are born in sin. That's their sinful nature, born dead in their trespasses and their sins, spiritually dead, just like every one of us was before the Lord invaded our lives. and gave us faith to see him as the glorious savior and the one who can save us from our sin and the cycle of sin and the bondage of sin. Our kids are born in sin.

Look, behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. You know, they're the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 51, David. But that sin cycle, that bondage to sin was broken through. faith in Jesus Christ. The gospel of God is the power of God unto salvation for who?

All who believe. The question is, when will our children believe? You don't know, I don't know, but we know this. The means that the Lord saves our children is the same as he saved us if we are in Christ. And that is through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of grace.

And when the spirit of God invades their hearts, and a time that we would never know, because the Spirit moves as He pleases. He'll invade their hearts and bring salvation to the soul, bring them out of the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light. And we all rejoice in that moment. We don't know when the Lord will do that, but it requires sitting under preaching, sitting under the gospel, whether it's in the household or whether it's in the local congregation of the church. And if we believe that, beloved brothers and sisters, parents, then that ought to be our priority.

I believe that the greatest display of love from a Christian father and a Christian mother is this, to expose your kids to the word of God, to the gospel, as often as you can, and live in light of that gospel. And the apostle Paul assumes that the kids are there. because they need the word just as much as everyone else. And he gives them a direct word, not via their parents. Children in the vocative voice, in other words, children, you've been there, now it's time, I'm gonna address you personally, right now, directly, a word directly for you.

The other words were for the church, collected, and you were involved in that, but now it's directly to you. And now, what does he say? Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. obey your parents. Maybe they were expecting this, I don't know, but it's crystal clear that their duty in the context of a household, children, your duty in the context of a household, according to the word of God, is to look to your father and your mother in a way of obedience.

It's to obey them. sitting under the word, they would have gleaned thus far as the word has been read, they would have gleaned thus far that salvation, the unworthy of the salvation comes by grace and through faith in Christ alone. They would have gleaned that the church of Jesus Christ has been comprised of Jew and Gentile, it's making two people one. The manifold wisdom of God has been displayed through the church and he's unifying this church and maturing this church in one spirit and in one body and in one Savior and one Lord. And they would have heard this and now they've heard that the conduct of the Christian life would be one that's rapid.

in love and filled with the spirit. singing with one another spiritual hymns and spiritual songs and hymns and the Psalms. And then at the end there, before the apostle Paul begins to address wives or husbands or children or slaves, he addresses, he says this, he says, submitting to one another means everyone in the church of Jesus Christ submits to one another. And he then says, you submit out of reverence for Christ. Submit out of reverence for Christ.

So now they know, that the mums and the dads have been addressed, the fathers ought to lay down their lives for their wives in love as the spiritual leaders of the home, and also the mothers are to submit to the fathers also lovingly, also in reverence to Christ. There's a structure that Christ has put in place, and now they know their role. Now they know where they are, where they fit in this, and they are subordinate to both, both the mum and the dad. Both the father and the mother are the authorities in the household insofar as the children are concerned. Now, I don't need to define the word obedience.

I think we all know what it means. It just means to obey. It's simply children obeying mom and dad. If they say to do something, if they say to do it, whether it's mom or dad, it doesn't say dad or mom, it says parents. So both where they say that you ought to be doing something, then you just do it.

Obey. There's house rules. Every home has rules and your parents are putting them in place for a reason because they do love you. Obey those rules. If they've given you instruction regarding housework, obey.

Those rules. If they've given you instruction about your playtime and when that occurs, obedience is necessary. Bedtime obedience is necessary. What to do in relation to your schoolwork and the timeframes that you commit to school and timeframes you commit to play and other things. What you can watch and what you can't watch on the TV.

What language is acceptable in your household, in their household. What friends you can have and what friends you shouldn't have. Beloved, all that mum and dad say, according to the word of God, your only response, your only response ought to be one of immediate, complete and joyful obedience. Not rebellion, not going toe to toe with mum and dad trying to argue your way out. but obedience.

I realize there's no qualifications initially, there's none. It doesn't say here that only if you agree, you have to obey or only if it's what you want to do, you should obey or only if you think mum and dad are right, you obey. simply obey. You simply obey. In what?

In some things? Well the parallel passage to this Ephesians chapter 6 is found in Colossians chapter 3 and there it says, children obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord. Of course with the submission of the mum to your father. The same applies here also. All submission, all submission in the context of the body of Christ in the church of Jesus Christ is found with the heart of that submission back 12 verses and that's back in verse 21 when the apostle Paul says, it ought to be done out of reverence.

For Christ, beloved, everything we do, everything we do, children, ought to have Jesus in the fore view of our hearts, on our minds, and our eyes are to be fixed on Him and on Him alone. And even here in verse one, it says to submit to your parents or to obey your parents in the Lord. So that relationship that you have with Christ, that love relationship that ought to be yours in the Lord Jesus Christ is the very basis of your obedience. basis of your obedience. It's the very basis of your submission.

It's the very basis of your obedience towards your mother and your father that God has ordained. As you look to Christ, as you love Christ, as you walk in his ways, out of a life in reverence, out of reverence for him, when you obey and you submit to your parents, that is a reflection of a heart that is actually completely willing to submit to Jesus himself. Your submission to your parents is actually a picture. a picture of what you ought to be submitted to in Christ. If you aren't obeying your earthly authority that he has instituted, one that you can see and that one you can hug and embrace, then what makes you think you'll be submitted to your heavenly authority?

You won't. Submission must first and foremost have reverence for Christ. That is that the knees ought to be bowed to King Jesus. Jesus needs to sit on the throne of your own life. That means faith in him.

That means trusting in him. That means recognizing that I am a sinner. Recognizing that in and of myself I am unworthy of anything good from him, I'm only worthy of judgment. But he died on the cross, shed his blood for me. We hear that all the time for the church, for the bride.

Yes, but you need to recognize that he shed his blood for me. You need to claim that by faith. It's an individual faith that saves. It's not the corporate faith. It's the individual faith that saves your heart.

So Jesus died on that cross. for me, and that needs to be the basis of your obedience to Jesus Christ. And I'm going to let you know why in a few moments, but that's the basis of everything. The basis of all your relationships in this world, the very basis and the very heart is your relationship with Christ. If you are unhealthy in that area, you're going to be unhealthy everywhere else.

You see, if you think that your obedience to your parents is as your obedience or because you love Christ and you want to obey him, beloved, eat well, children, this will save you a world of hell. It'll save you. I said earlier on in the intro that the world is attacking our children. It is attacking you from any which direction and it is attacking you in areas that there are some truths as well because they may attack you and say things like I said earlier. Wait a minute.

But why should you ask your parents? Why should you respect? Why should you obey them when they don't know as much as you do in this particular area? That may be true. They may attack you in the way that say you're far more technologically advanced.

You jump on the computer and you know what you're doing. Your father doesn't. That's true. I'm the least technologically advanced person in my household. And that's just the truth.

The world may whisper in your ear, your parents are too strict, your parents are too regimented, your parents are too old fashioned. But you know, if your eyes are fixed upon Christ. If you're obeying your parents because you're obeying Jesus, because you have a true, vibrant faith relationship with the Lord, if your obedience to Him is first and foremost, that's your main concern, to reverence Christ, to live for Him, to walk in His way, and your obedience to your parents is a result of your direct obedience to the Word of God, then you know what? All that doesn't matter. If the world picks at your mum or your dad, it does not matter because your obedience to them is not ultimately because they are worthy, but it's ultimately because Jesus is worthy.

You see, I said that last time. I said that there's no husband or no wife worthy of the husband's total and complete allegiance. And there's no husband worthy of the wife's total submission in and of ourselves. The only thing we are worthy of as sinners, the only thing is judgment. So this is grace from God.

But the obedience that you obey your parents with is an obedience because you know that Christ is worthy and you're acting in your love for him. And it doesn't matter what goes on in society. It doesn't matter what your friends say. It doesn't matter what the TV says. It doesn't matter what the movies.

It doesn't matter what the world espouses. It does not matter. Jesus is worthy and he remains worthy. He remains worthy. You cannot assault him and get away with it.

You cannot. No matter what the society says about our Lord, he is perfect, he's righteous, he's just, he's the epitome of love and truth and goodness. Your obedience to your parents is because of your love and your obedience to Christ. And the Lord will honor that. The Lord will honor that.

And of course, I need to say something, and I think this is a given, that that obedience is insofar as, of course, that no sin is required of you. If there's direct sin, and in the very, very, very rare chance a parent requires for their children to sin or engage in something that is unlawful, in that instance, respectfully, you explain to your parents why you're unable to engage in that activity. Respectfully. The preferences set aside. If I don't want to do it, set aside.

If I think there's a better way, I can discuss with my parents. If they want to go their way, set my preferences aside. See, the Lord has commanded for your own good and for his glory. And at the end of the day, we need to either believe it or we don't, because the world, as I said, is always going to, always going to attack against it, because ultimately it is a matter of authority. Ultimately is a matter of authority.

It says because children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. It is right. There's a right way to do things and there is a wrong way to do things. What is right is mandated by the one who is right. The one who's righteous, the one who's holy, the one who's always good.

the one who created us, and he's the one who mandates what it is, all the activities that we engage in, and what the authority structure is in the world that he created. He is the supreme authority, and under him, he has made authority structures. And if we don't respect those authorities, if we despise those authorities, then we're despising him, himself. It's ultimately a matter of, actually, of authority. So the question is, do I believe?

Do I believe the word of God? Do I believe the same word that has asked or that has commanded that I obey my parents? Do I believe that the same word has also promised that all things, all things from trusting the Lord work out for the ultimate good of me, who love him and have been called according to his purpose? Do I believe that? And if that is something I truly believe, then I embrace the word, I look to Christ, and I walk in obedience.

That's what I need to do as a child of God. Out of all the things the apostle could have said, only a few lines are committed directly in the evocative voice to the children. Out of all the things he could have said, he says, children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. It's been a while since I was a child, but I know if you feel this way, you might be asking, some of our children may ask in their mind, what's the big deal? What's the big deal?

I mean, you said that complete obedience, immediate, complete, and really joyful obedience is required. What's the big deal if I disobey every now and then? I'm not talking about doozies. I'm talking about little things. Like my parents have asked me to come home at five.

I come at 5.15. I know I should have come at five. What's 15 minutes? After school, they said, come straight home.

But my friend's place is on the way. And I just dropped in for five minutes. How can that hurt? I mean, that hurt no one. my parents have said not to watch something particular on TV and and I have and I know like my friends have told me about there's nothing listen there is nothing wrong with it it's g-rated but my parents don't want me to watch it I have big deal like what's the big deal if I disobey in some small areas beloved it is a big deal children this This is a very big deal.

We need to look at things biblically and how the word of God treats certain sins. This is a doozy. Disobedience to your parents is an absolute doozy because it's a despising of authority and the authority that God himself has put in place. And that despising of authority according to 2 Peter 3 10 brings one under the judgment because it's depictive of a condition that has gone really, really wrong in the heart. You see, every time we manifest actions on the outside, those actions are never skin deep.

Those actions are always rooted in the heart. That disobedience, that despising of authority up top, no matter how small it is, it is a reflection of where our heart is. And God is concerned with the heart. Jesus is concerned with the heart. He said, it's not what comes into the mouth that causes corruption, but what comes out because it comes out of the heart.

In fact, I am absolutely totally blown away by how the Bible treats or speaks to the disobedience of children towards their parents. If you just take some time to settle, let's go through a few verses now, but it will blow you away. Disobedience to your parents is placed among sins that are almost, you don't want to even speak about in a public space. Listen to what it says in Romans 1. I think we all, most of us, will probably be well aware of Romans 1 in the context, Romans 1-3.

You can open there if you like. The context in Romans 1 is from one through two to three is the apostle Paul is indicting all of creation of the Jew Gentile into sin, into rebellion against God. In other words, no one is worthy of salvation. All is worthy of the wrath of God and judgment of God. In Romans one, then we get to the apostle Paul speaking about the rejection of people and the suppression of truth in unrighteousness, that which is plain to them, which is the eternal power and the divine nature of God, that it was plain to them, but they've rejected that, they've suppressed that truth.

And so they continue to go deeper and deeper into sin, this slippery slope of sin. One sin begets another, means one sin gives birth to more sin. That's the problem with sin, it's never satisfied. You engage in a little bit of sin and then you want more and more and more. And that's the way things work until total corruption.

And we are totally corrupted apart from Christ. But even as Christians, we engage in sin, we're corrupting ourselves. And so he got the apostle Paul speaking in Romans chapter one from verse 28, speaking about the slippery slope of sin and the judgment of God that is worthy upon it. Then he says this in verse 28, he says, and since they do not see, that is the people engaging in this sin, that only since they do not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. It's a scary place to be.

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They were full of envy. Children, listen to these sins. Murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossip, slanderous, haters of God.

Can you think of a greater sin? Haters of God. Insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil. Think of that. Creators, inventors of that which is so offensive to God.

And then he says, disobedient to parents. Continues, foolishness, faithless, heartless, ruthless, pretty heavy. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who deserve or practice such things deserve to what? Die, deserve to die. They not only do them, but they give approval to those who practice them.

Listen to the group of sins that disobedience to parents, like, would you put it in amongst these sins? Despising authority of the parent is so great to God that it's placed amongst these sins that are so horrific. So you ask, what is the big deal? Is it a big deal? that we disobey our parents.

Is it a big deal that we don't always obey or we don't wholeheartedly obey? Is it a big deal? Yes, it is. The Bible makes a big deal out of it. 2 Timothy 3 is another passage and it speaks about the evil, the growing evil and deepening evil in the last days.

And it says, for people will become lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents. How serious is it? in the eyes of God to reject the authority of one's parents. In Jude, it speaks of rejecting that authority. We know the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah and it likens to that and the judgment he deserves is likened to that, which was complete destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah also.

Beloved children, disobeying your parents is to say to God, I am removing myself from under the authority that you have ordained and I'm going to do what I think is right. It's saying to God, I'm no longer, I'm no longer gonna acknowledge the authority that you put in place. I'm no longer gonna acknowledge your word and what you have said that should go in the realm of your creation. I'm removing myself from under that and I am going to do what I think is right, beloved. The last time you probably heard words like that, I would think was in the book which I would say was one of the darkest books in the Bible, the book of Judges.

In those days, there was no king in those days and the people did what? Was right in their own eyes. dark. Despising the authority of God is to wave your fist at God and say, I know best. I know best.

Yes, you've designed the way the structure of the family. Yes, you've designed the way the authority should work out in the family, that my father is the head of the household, that my mother submits to my father in love, and there's a loving relationship all done in Christ, and I should submit to both my father and my mother, but I know best. That is the epitome of rebellion, the epitome of rebellion. To despise the authority that God put in place is the epitome of rebellion. And it's to declare war with God.

And beloved parents, fathers in particular, the greatest responsibility you have been given is that of your family and in particular to raise your own children. Allowing this type of rebellion This type of disobedience, this type of lack of submission in the household, knowing full well of the consequences and how God looks upon it, and not doing anything about it, is simply to hate your children. They're not my words. They're the Bible's words. It is to hate your children.

not disciplining the children, which is a responsibility fundamentally of the father and the mother. But the father is the head of the household, make sure that the children are being disciplined, not disciplining the kids when they play up, when they don't obey, when they don't submit to the parents. According to scripture is a sin, it's a heavy sin. And according to scripture, it means that you do not love your children. Listen to what it says here.

Whoever spares the rod hates his son. But he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. Proverbs 13, 24. Listen to this one. The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

He dies from a lack of discipline. And because of his great folly, he is led astray. Proverbs 5, 22. You know the importance of discipline, brothers. Fathers, you know the importance of discipline.

You know the heart of God in relation to discipline. You know that discipline is a manifestation of a heart that loves and God himself has shown us an example of a heart that loves and a heart that disciplines. Proverbs 3, 11 through 12, my son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof for the Lord reproves him who he loves and as a father, the son in whom he delights. Father's love is shown through the fact that he disciplines his kids, his sons, because they're not illegitimate. He has a concern for them.

He delights in them and he wants to see them grow and to be disciplined and to love God and to live a prosperous life in the Lord. Train up your children in the way they should go, even when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22, six. Hebrews six, another passage we can look to, but I think you get the picture. Children, when you are disciplined by your parents, the world says they hate you.

The world says, what? Your dad spanked you? Your dad took his belt off and hit you? Your dad disciplined? He gave you a slap on the bottom?

Your dad did that? Your dad can't love you. Did it hurt? Yes, that means your dad does not love you. Beloved children, the Bible tells us otherwise.

The Bible says that is the epitome of love. Bible says that the demonstration of your father's love to you is more than anything else to see you grow up into a child who loves Jesus and walks in his ways. And that means it requires discipline. And if there is an attitude towards your father or your mother who discipline you in the Lord, it ought to be one, thank you, thank you, Lord, that you've given me parents who actually love me. You might not see it when you're young.

You might even Not like it. No one likes to be spanked. No one likes to be disciplined. But the truth of the matter is, a parent that loves his or her son or daughter is a parent that disciplines them. Because what's the alternative?

According to the Bible, the alternative is death. As you learn to obey your parents through the discipline, through the loving discipline of your parents, you'll learn a little bit by a little bit and better understand the obedience to the authority of God. Because if you have no obedience to the earthly authorities, you will not know obedience to the divine authority. God has given you that as a picture. God has given you children a picture in the structure of the home that the authority that the Lord has placed over you, your father and your mother, and your heart attitude towards them in obedience is one that is a picture of what our heart's attitude ought to be in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why? Because it is right. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Why? It says there, first one, because this is right.

It's right. The Lord says, sometimes we just need to say, because the Lord said so, and he knows best. And we've already established that the Lord loves us, and he only does what is for our absolute best. The Lord himself, that's Jesus, the perfect son of God in flesh, the one who knew no sin, the one who was absolutely perfect in every way. Jesus Christ himself submitted to his sinful parents.

And that's a fact. In Luke chapter two we're told, and you might remember this, when they went to Jerusalem for one of the feasts and the parents were going back, it wasn't as though Jesus disobeyed his parents, they went back in a caravan, they left him there and he was in his father's home and they came back, they were upset and so forth. But we're told, and he, that is Christ, went down with him, that is his parents, and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. How extraordinary is that? That Jesus Christ, the son of God, the one who knows no sin, who's perfect in every single way, submitted to his earthly sinful parents.

Why? Because it is right in the eyes of God. Because it's right. It is right. If he wanted to argue with his parents, he would win every single one.

Like, have you ever won an argument and thought, Why doesn't mom see it? Why doesn't dad see it? He would have won every single argument if he wanted to argue but he did not despise authority. He came into this world born under a woman born under the law and he went by the structure that God had planted into the family and he knew that my father is the head. My mother is my is also my authority and I will submit to them because it is But here's the thing.

Is ticking all the boxes simply all that's required? So children, is it simply just the mom and dad have said that I need to do something, I'll just go do it. Since the Bible says, I have to do it, I will just do it. And you've done it. They say, come home.

After school, you come home from school. You might not be happy about it. You're not happy about it, but don't do it anyway. Parents say that you need to go to your home. I'd rather do something.

Whatever, I'll just go do it. Is that the obedience that Christ requires of us? Is it an obedience that simply just does exactly what parents say? Remember how I said before, when the heart may not be engaged in love, and in respect and in love for Christ and out of reverence for Christ. Is the Lord only concerned with what we see on the outside or is he more concerned with what he sees on the inside?

So let me tell you, if a submission to your parents is one that is begrudging, If it's one that is reluctant, if it is one that just says, you know, I don't agree with any of this, but I'm going to do it anyway, because otherwise I'll get in trouble, then that is not the type of obedience that the Lord requires. And let me tell you something else. We sometimes, the Lord has placed in our lives authority, and that authority can be in the way of government, can be in the way of our parents and other authorities. So the Lord has placed authority in our lives, and sometimes He's put punishment in those authorities, discipline in those authorities, so that He can curb and restrain evil, and He does that through that. But if our obedience to our parents is only and solely because we're afraid that we will get smacked, then that is not quite what the Lord requires either.

Because He doesn't want you to simply just submit out of fear. or submit because you have to submit and do it begrudgingly without the heart actually being engaged in loving obedience to Christ and worshipful behavior towards Christ and therefore recognizing that the authority he has placed is one that my parents are and I'm going to be one who doesn't despise that authority. If it's just simply out of fear or anything else, that's not the type of submission that the Lord requires. So how ought to be The heart, when you do obey, what is the attitude of your heart when you submit to Christ, to your parents? It ought to be the same heart attitude that Christ requires when you submit to him.

Obey your parents in the Lord. In Colossians it says, obey your parents in the Lord for this please, in everything for this pleases, it pleases the Lord. the heart that God requires in our submission. is one that is a heart that is in complete love for Christ and one that loves our parents and respects them and honors them and submits to them and obeys their rules in love and not begrudgingly trusting that even if we're doing things against our own opinion, against our own preference, that the Lord will honor that obedience if we do it in love and the respect that he requires. And I was hoping we'd go through verse two.

We're not going to, we just haven't got time, we're almost done. Because verse two speaks about the heart's attitude. It says, honor thy father and your mother, and it speaks about the promise. And I'm not gonna have time to go into that. But the honoring is a heart attitude.

It's beyond just doing the external things. It's doing those things because they're rooted in a heart attitude towards my parents, which is one of love. I love the fact, and in closing, I love the fact that everything, that everything that we're required to do in our Christian walk is always exampled in Christ. Like there's nothing, there is nothing that the Bible speaks of that is pleasing to the Lord where your eyes are fixed on anyone else. It's always in Jesus.

Because the alternative is you look to yourself and then you look to your own performance. And that is a recipe for disaster, a recipe for despair. In everything, Christ is the example. And even now, children, he's the example of what that submission looks like. We mentioned moments earlier that Christ submitted to his earthly parents, Joseph and Mary.

The Bible tells us that in Luke chapter 2. But also it tells us that Christ has a heavenly father. And there is an example that he submitted to the heavenly father. And it's incredible because we know that Jesus is the one who is God in flesh. And we know that in the incarnation, he was God.

And he came with knowledge and the power and the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the second member of the Trinity. There's no sin in Him. There's no error in Him. He's perfect in every sense.

And yet in the Incarnation, Jesus Christ Himself submitted completely and wholly to the will of the Father. And there's a passage I want to take us to, actually two, I'm going to read them, we're not going to explain them because we're out of time almost, but I want to take you to those passages in the Gospel according to John, because I want to see how Jesus is the example for us on how we ought to submit, the type of submission that God requires, and the heart of the submission that God requires also. The first one is found in John chapter 8. A few months back, I preached a couple of sermons on these two verses, John chapter eight, verse 28 and 29. If you want a full explanation, you can listen to those, but tonight, I really only wanna make that point, that simple point.

What is the type of submission that God requires? And what is the heart of submission, of obedience that He requires? John chapter 8 verse 28 and 29. So Jesus said to them, who's the them? The them are the Pharisees who are going toe-to-toe with Jesus on the Feast of Booths.

So Jesus said to the Pharisees, when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing on my own authority. There you go, it's a matter of authority. but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone."

Now here's the point. I always do the things that are pleasing to him. Well, I always do the things that are pleasing to him. There is nothing that Jesus did, absolutely nothing, that was not pleasing to the Father. There was nothing that Jesus did that wasn't perfectly aligned with the will of the Father.

There's nothing that Jesus did that did not bring a smile on the Father's face. And on one occasion, he declared from heaven, this is my son in whom I am well pleased. And on one occasion, listen to him. Nothing that Jesus did was outside the pleasure of God. Perfect, total obedience.

Perfect, total, complete obedience. I always do the things that are pleasing to him. I do nothing on my own authority. Perfect and total and complete obedience. So we know that's the type of obedience that Jesus example for us in the incarnation towards the will of the father.

But what was the heart of Jesus in that obedience? Let's turn to John chapter 14. Let's turn to John chapter 14. John chapter 14, from verses 30 to 31. Jesus is speaking to the apostles, to the disciples.

Of course, Judas is gone. And listen to what he says. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me. Now listen to these words and take them to heart, beloved.

Children, really take these words to heart. But I do as the Father has commanded me. Now remember that before Jesus says, I only do what is pleasing to the Father, there is nothing apart from the will. So what the Father has commanded you is perfect in obedience. And then he goes on to say, so that, so that the world may know that what?

I love. for the father. What is the heart of the obedience of the incarnate son of God towards the father? Not only is it perfect obedience, not only is it externally absolutely pristine in obedience to everything that the father has commanded, but it's rooted in a heart of love. He did what he did because of his love for the father.

The obedience, children, that the Lord requires of us is not simply just to do the things that our parents say, although they will discipline you so that you do these things. But if the Lord has captured your hearts, if the Lord has brought salvation to your soul, if you have truly come to believe in him and embraced him by faith and come to know this Jesus, not only as a as the person that the Bible speaks of in the mind, and we know the stories, but really come to know him intimately and personally through saving faith. Then the love of God has flooded your soul. And that love is the love that you love him with, and you love others with, and you act towards your parents in obedience through that love. because now you don't despise the authority that God has given, but you love it.

You love the word of God and Jesus said, if you love me, you will obey my commands. Let's pray.